The Gospel for a Gay Friend

Contents:

• WHY ‘GOD AND THE GAY CHRISTIAN’ IS WRONG ABOUT THE BIBLE AND SAME-SEX RELATNSHIPS
• GOD AND THE GAY CHRISTIAN : THE BIBLIL SE SUPPORT OF SAME-SEX RELATNSHIPS
• GOD, THE GOSPEL, AND THE GAY CHALLENGE -- A RPONSE TO MATTHEW V
• GOD AND THE GAY CHRISTIAN
• CHRISTIAN NATN SERI: A CHRISTIAN SE FOR GAY MARRIAGE
• “WHY DON’T GOD ANSWER PRAYERS TO TAKE AWAY GAY FEELGS?”
• 10 REASONS GOD LOV GAY CHRISTIANS
• HOW CAN OUR CHURCH REACH OUT TO THE GAY COMMUNY?
• THE GOSPEL FOR A GAY FRIEND

WHY ‘GOD AND THE GAY CHRISTIAN’ IS WRONG ABOUT THE BIBLE AND SAME-SEX RELATNSHIPS

In March 2012, Matthew V posted a vio on YouTube suggtg that "beg gay is not a s, " and that the Bible "do not nmn, lovg, mted same-sex relatnships.

GOD AND THE GAY CHRISTIAN : THE BIBLIL SE SUPPORT OF SAME-SEX RELATNSHIPS

So V sought to arm himself wh biblil scholarship on the affirmatn of same-sex relatnships and strove to nvce his fay and church that they were wrong—that homosexualy is not a s.

V's new book, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblil Case Support of Same-Sex Relatnships, expounds further on the arguments ma his vio. His aim is not to prent new rmatn, but to synthize gay-affirmg arguments and make them accsible for a broar and younger dience. God and the Gay Christian begs wh an emotnal appeal om Matthew 7:18, "A good tree nnot bear bad u.

" V stat that universal nmnatn of same-sex relatnships has been damagg and stctive for those who intify as gay Christians, producg bad u (prsn and suici, for stance). Cg 1 Timothy 4:3, V even argu that those who forbid gay marriage are false teachers who promote hostily toward God's creatn. Six biblil passag directly addrs homosexualy, and V sists that none addrs same-sex orientatn as we know today.

GOD, THE GOSPEL, AND THE GAY CHALLENGE -- A RPONSE TO MATTHEW V

Pl Romans 1:26-27 is not referrg to monogamo, gay relatnships, but stead to ltful excs and the breakg of ctomary genr rol.

The tone of God and the Gay Christian is que different. Unlike others who advote rpectful dialogue on this divisive issue, V charg that those who do not affirm same-sex relatnships are sng by distortg the image of God and are sentially rponsible for the suicis of many gay Christians. From this perspective, he says, one n still affirm gay relatnships.

One of the ma weakns of God and the Gay Christian is that V's methodology of biblil terpretatn clash wh the high view of the Bible he claims to hold.

GOD AND THE GAY CHRISTIAN

Like V, I also me out as a gay man while I was a stunt. Intertgly, a chapla gave me a book om a gay-affirmg thor, John Boswell, claimg that homosexualy is not a s. Like V, I was lookg for biblil jtifitn and wanted to prove that the Bible bls gay relatnships.

Years later I found out that the gay-affirmg chapla also regnized his error. In God and the Gay Christian, V reli heavily upon other thors, many of whom also began wh a strong gay-affirmg bias. John Boswell was an openly gay historian.

Michael Carn, a ge gay Catholic who dabbl astrology, has wrten on the "homo-erotics of atonement" and ntributed to the Queer Bible Commentary, which draws upon "femist, queer, nstctnist, utopian theori, the social scienc and historil-cril disurs. " Dale Mart, an openly gay man, believ neher that J' rurrectn is a historil fact, nor that the historil J believed he was dive.

CHRISTIAN NATN SERI: A CHRISTIAN SE FOR GAY MARRIAGE

The view of same-sex orientatn exprsed God and the Gay Christian mirrors V's own gay-male experienc.

But acrdg to the latt rearch, do not reprent the broar gay and lbian muny. God and the Gay Christian clus a good amount of historil background rmatn. V exhorts gay-affirmg Christians to help her a morn reformatn by "speakg the tth, " which for him starts wh personal life stori.

“WHY DON’T GOD ANSWER PRAYERS TO TAKE AWAY GAY FEELGS?”

I pletely agree wh V that many gays, lbians, and other same-sex attracted people have stggled to rencile their fah and sexualy whout much help om the church. Some church are unwillg to talk about homosexualy, aaid that will open up a n of worms.

10 REASONS GOD LOV GAY CHRISTIANS

Other church only talk about the immoraly of , while neglectg to discs how the transformative msage of the gospel is also for gays and lbians.

We are not ready to addrs the issue of homosexualy (or even sexualy general) if we have not first reemed biblil sglens. V lims the power of God by actually believg that there is no possibily for gays and lbians to marry someone of the oppose sex. We have failed to offer Christ to the gay and lbian muny.

Christopher Yuan () is -thor, wh his mother, of Out of a Far Country: A Gay Son's Journey to God, A Broken Mother's Search for Hope (WaterBrook Prs). 213 pag; 22 cmReterpretatns of key Bible texts related to sexual orientatn, wrten by a Harvard stunt, prent an accsible se for a morn Christian nservative acceptance of sexual diversy"First tra paperback edn" issued 2015Inclus biblgraphil referenc (pag 181-213)The Chg Library/Women & Genr Studi py was acquired as part of The Don Kelly Rearch Collectn of Gay Lerature and Culture. While Christians other movements and other natns face siar qutns, the qutn of homosexualy now prents evangelils the Uned Stat wh a cisn that nnot be avoid.

HOW CAN OUR CHURCH REACH OUT TO THE GAY COMMUNY?

“The qutn of whether gay Christians should be married wh the church.

Into this ntext now  God and the Gay Christian, a book by Matthew V. Jt a uple of years ago V ma wav wh the vio of a lecture which he attempted to argue that beg a gay Christian a mted same-sex relatnship (and eventual marriage) is patible wh biblil Christiany.

THE GOSPEL FOR A GAY FRIEND

There are a great host of people, nsired to be wh the larger evangelil movement, who are sperately seekg a way to make peace wh the moral revolutn and endorse the acceptance of openly-gay dividuals and upl wh the life of the church.

In God and the Gay Christian V argu that “Christians who affirm the full thory of Scripture n also affirm mted, monogamo same-sex relatnships.